The Sermon on the Mount 8

Secrets to Keep

The Sermon on the Mount 8

We are in the middle of series on the Sermon on the Mount

We are in the book of Mathew chapter 6

This is a wonderful sermon,

The sermon Is about the kingdom of God.

Our Lord was concerned to describe a citizen of the kingdom Heaven

In the beatitudes he describes the essential nature of the Christian man or woman.

Then he immediately begins to share how a citizen of the kingdom relates to the law.

Jesus ends with

Mat 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

A picture of the children in relationship with their father

Now Jesus begins to share how we are to relate to Our Heavenly Father.

Today we are on chapter 6

The principle is this:

Take heed to yourself, be careful that you do not your righteous deeds before man

Jesus gives three illustrations to this basic principle as he deals with the three basic righteous things that men do. And that is the giving of their alms, their prayer and the abstaining, mortifying of their flesh.

Secrets to Keep before the Lord.

Let’s pray

Now he’s talking here about the motives for which we do things, for which we do our righteous things.

Mat 6:1 "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Make sure that the motive by which you are prompted to do these things does not come from your desire to be recognized and noted by men. Take heed that you do not your righteous act to be seen of men.

1 When we Give

Mat 6:2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

The Bible tells us that we are all going to stand before the judgement seat of Christ and our works are going to be judged of what sort they are.

Our works will be judged actually by the motives behind the work; what motivated me to do it.

And if my motivations in doing my righteous deeds are wrong, than those deeds are worthless and they will be burned and consumed as wood, hay and stubble.

For all of our works will be tried by fire. Many of our works that we have done for the Lord will just be consumed. They’ll go up in smoke.

Mat 6:3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Now, those things which I’ve done out of a pure heart and pure motive before God, those that remain the testing of fire, I’ll receive a reward for them.

I can be doing a lot of wonderful things but if I don’t do it in love, they become worthless.

Mat 6:4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

You see, I can even sell everything that I have, distribute all of the profit to the poor, but I can do it in such a way that I call the newspaper and say, "Hey send a reporter out here. I got my house for sale and I’m going to give everything to the poor".

And that’s basically what Jesus is saying here. Now be careful what your motive is. Don’t do things in such a way as to draw attention to yourself. That is, to draw the praise of people and the applause of the crowd.

And there is a right way and there is a wrong way to do each of these things. There’s a right way to give to God; there’s a wrong way to give to God. You give the wrong way and you’ve received your reward. You give the right way and God will reward you.

Paul tells us in the Corinthian epistle, giving is never to be out of constraint or pressure. We should never feel pressured to give to God. God doesn’t want people to give to him motivated by pressure.

2Co 9:7 Let each one give [thoughtfully and with purpose] just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver [and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift].

And so your giving, let it be with simplicity, let it be out of a cheerful heart and let it be motivated by your love for the Lord and not your desire to be seen by men.

In 1Kings we read about Salomon the young king, he decided to worship Lord in a very extravagant way. Solomon was the second son of king David and Bathsheba, who was the wife of Uriah one of David’s 30 mighty men who David betrayed.

1Ki 3:4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

That offering caught God’s attention so He came to visit the young man.

1Ki 3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

Solomon in the dream, asked the Lord for a discerning heart for wisdom and the Lord was very pleased with him.

1Ki 3:11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,

1Ki 3:12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

1Ki 3:13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

Solomon’s worship and sacrifice was done before the Lord even do was in front of everyone, but he pleased the Lord and the Lord rewarded him for it.

2 When you pray,

The Lord's Prayer

Mat 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

There’s a wrong and a right way to pray.

Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

What is interesting about this verse, is that they had no rooms like we have today in a house, or closets that you could walk inn, houses were made of 4 single walls, and they had a storage under the floor, I believe Jesus was talking about this secret place in our hearts, where we can access Him even in the middle of a crowd. Just you and your Heavenly Father not calling attention to yourself.

Mat 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Now prayer was a very important thing in the life of the Jew. Twice a day he had to say the Shima, which comprised of three sections of the Old Testament scriptures beginning with Deuteronomy six there, "The Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might, with all thy strength". And he had to say that, the first thing in the morning and he had to say it the last thing at night. He was to say it before nine o’clock in the morning and he was to say it before nine o’clock in the evening but twice a day he would say the Shima.

Then there was the second form of prayers, the Shiminoph. The Shiminoph was actually eighteen separate prayers, later on they added the nineteenth but they kept the word shiminoph, eighteen. And there were eighteen prayers that they would memorize as a child and they had to say three times a day; nine o’clock in the morning, twelve at noon and three o’clock in the afternoon.

Now because they had to say these same prayers every day, morning, afternoon and evening, it became a custom, as anything that you know we do by custom. It became something that, to many of them, was totally meaningless.

Mat 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

He knows our hearts, our thoughts our needs, come to Him with thanksgiving in your heart.

Mat 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

Our Loving and caring Father in Heaven, “Patyr” the creator of Heaven and earth, Holly is your name.

Mat 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Your kingdom that is perfect come, and your will that is always good and just, the best for my life let be done here on earth as it is in heaven, agree with God. That’s what prayer is all about.

Mat 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

Our daily bread, but also sustenance for our souls and spirit.

Joh 6:35 Jesus replied to them, "N1I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually].

Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Forgive me as I forgive those who have offended me.

For several years I couldn’t pray this prayer, my heart was so filled with bitterness specially against my earthly dad. My ability of receive God’s forgiveness depends on my choice to let go offenses done against me.

Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

And don’t let me fall into temptation but deliver me from the evil one that is after to destroy my soul.

Mat 6:14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Mat 6:15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Lack of forgiveness is spiritual suicide; we need to remember that we can never be angry at one person only our anger will faster and affect many.

Heb 12:15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

3 When you abstain, when you fast.

Fasting

Mat 6:16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Fast is in between you and the Lord, when we need to be recognized as spiritual or holy because we are fasting, we missed the point, depriving ourselves of food or something the Lord asked of us, is meaningless.

Mat 6:17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

Mat 6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Take a shower clean up look normal, you are not better than others because you are fasting, is a important thing to do when the Lord ask you. If you are doing as part of a diet, don’t spiritualize, what is the heart behind your fasting?

I have fasted because God asked me to do it, and I have fasted just to see how long I could go without food, God will give you the grace to do what He asked, on your own is misery.

When we give, when we pray or abstain do it unto the Lord, they are secrets to keep before the Lord, because our reward comes from Him.

To become a Disciple, we need to make Jesus the Lord of our lives

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Joh 3:16

To receive Jesus, we need to accept Him as God’s son, repent from our sins and a life of selfishness, and ask Him to be your Lord and savior, not that you deserve it, but is a gift from God.

If this is your desire today, please repeat this prayer after me?

Heavenly Father I’m sinner,

I’m sorry for my sins,

I’m willing to turn away from my sins.

I receive Christ as my savior,

I confess him as Lord

from this moment on I want to follow and serve him,

in the fellowship of his church,

In Jesus name. Amen!The Sermon on the Mount 8

We are in the middle of series on the Sermon on the Mount

We are in the book of Mathew chapter 6

This is a wonderful sermon,

The sermon Is about the kingdom of God.